East African Sideneck Black Mud Turtles are carnivorous, but the young and sometimes even adults will also eat aquatic plants such as algae and water grass. They also feed on insects and other small water creatures, snails, small fish, frogs and salamanders, and crabs. In captivity many do well on commercial floating turtle food and live foods, supplemented occasionally with low-fat dog food, trout chow, apples or bananas, and you will also need to provide them
with a cuttlebone or other calcium source.
African Mud Turtles should not be kept with other turtle species, as they can be aggressive. They will also kill fish, frogs, mice, and even birds, and maybe even the occasional finger. But they are said to tame easily and become hardy pets that are pretty easy to keep healthy. And
because they will breed in captivity, at least in outdoor ponds, they are a suitable species for the pet trade.
If you must keep your Gaboon Side-neck Terrapin indoors, a juvenile will need at least a long 20 gallon vivarium. Provide any turtle, of course, with as large a home as possible. Your turtle needs swimming room. The water should be at least as deep as the turtle's width, and heated by an underwater heater to the high 70s-low 80s F. and a pH of 6 to 6.5. Filter the water well mechanically or change it completely several times a week or you will have to deal with shell infections. You may want to feed your African Sideneck in a separate tank to help keep his primary habitat cleaner.
with a cuttlebone or other calcium source.
African Mud Turtles should not be kept with other turtle species, as they can be aggressive. They will also kill fish, frogs, mice, and even birds, and maybe even the occasional finger. But they are said to tame easily and become hardy pets that are pretty easy to keep healthy. And
because they will breed in captivity, at least in outdoor ponds, they are a suitable species for the pet trade.
If you must keep your Gaboon Side-neck Terrapin indoors, a juvenile will need at least a long 20 gallon vivarium. Provide any turtle, of course, with as large a home as possible. Your turtle needs swimming room. The water should be at least as deep as the turtle's width, and heated by an underwater heater to the high 70s-low 80s F. and a pH of 6 to 6.5. Filter the water well mechanically or change it completely several times a week or you will have to deal with shell infections. You may want to feed your African Sideneck in a separate tank to help keep his primary habitat cleaner.
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